Red Russian kale
Brassica napus 'Red Russian' · Brassica
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Red Russian kale is the soft, frilly, oak-leaved kale with the striking purple-red bones — flat, ruffle-edged grey-green blades cut into deep lobes like a giant oak or arugula leaf, laced through with magenta-purple stems and veins that deepen to wine-red in cold weather. It is the most tender and delicate of the common kales, sweeter and far less bitter than curly or Tuscan kale, which makes it a favourite both for eating raw in salads and for quick wilting, where heavy curly kale would stay tough.
Picking a good onedrag
Stiff and blue-greenYellow and limp
Shop freshEveryday bestThe all-rounder: raw or massaged, sautéed, braised, blitzed into soup.
LeafEven green, bloom rubbed off
The bendRib bends, leaf still stiff
Cut endRim drying, pale inside
SmellNeutral, a little cabbagey
These cues are Kale's, and hold across its varieties; where this one differs, its own page says so.
What you get from one
71%
Edible part
355 g · ribs and stems stripped
500 g
Weight each
each one
Keeping ittap a temperature
A domestic fridge holds it about 5× longer than the counter.
95–100%
Humidity
Loose, never sealed
Airflow